Chapter 5: Family and Friends
Zia's POV
A.N- Hey guys! I am so sorry for the wait for this chapter. I had, as our good friend Zuko would say, 'lost my stuff.' But luckily I found it yesterday and stayed up all night writing this so, enjoy. I hope you guys like it! I even made it longer than usual to make up for it. Enjoy and remember to review, please!
I was jolted awake from my dream that was about my best friend, Kira, with Aang's hyper voice. "Wait until you see it, Katara. The air temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world."
I groaned out loud and pulled my sleeping bag over my face; I didn't hear Katara's reply to Aang. Apparently the only two people who like to sleep in was me and Sokka, who was snoring away right next to me.
Aang had stopped talking and I heard his feet softly hit the ground a few feet away. I took that in and decided he was on Appa; which meant that we were about to leave again. I rolled over on my side and started to doze off again when heard Aang walk over to me and Sokka. "Wake up, Sokka, Zia. Air temple here we come!"
I just moaned pitifully and turned onto my stomach. Sokka muttered, "Sleep now. Temple later," and started to snore again. I grunted in agreement to Sokka's wise suggestion and pushed my face into the dirt; hoping I could get a few more minutes of sleep before Aang came up with a crazy plan to wake us up.
Sadly, luck was not on my side that morning and a few seconds later I heard from Aang, "Sokka wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" In response to that Sokka shot straight up, still in his warm sleeping bag, and yelled, "Ah! Get it off, get it off! Ah!" This was followed by a loud thump sound of Sokka falling flat on his face.
Despite having been more than half asleep, I giggled along with Katara and Aang. Then I sighed, getting out of my comfortable sleeping bag. Shivering, I grabbed my red cloak, while Aang told us that it was time to leave. I draped the cloak around my shoulders and looked down at my clothes under it; I was still wearing the red ones I got from Zuko.
"Hey, guys, remind me when we get to a port, to buy some new clothes. These are definitely not my color and, besides, I stand out a lot. Hmm, I wonder if I would look good in blue." I said the last sentence to myself and started to daydream about shopping for clothes. Suddenly, Kira's image appeared in my mind and I remembered the times we used to go shopping with both of our moms, seven years ago. The smile that had formed when I was daydreaming about clothes quickly disappeared and tears had slowly formed in my eyes. I wiped them away and hoped no one saw them.
Katara, who had heard and saw what had happened, opened her bag, looked in, and said kindly, "I think we have enough money to buy some nice clothes for you when we get there." I nodded thanks to her and sniffed a little. She looked at me questioningly and her eyes asked me if I wanted to talk about it. Even if I just met her yesterday, she acted like my best friend and mother. I did a quick shake of my head and she shrugged. Although, her eyes still were watching me curiously.
We all got on Appa and I wrapped my cloak around me, lying down in the back of the saddle. Katara and Aang sat down on Appa's head while Sokka joined me in the saddle on his back. Sokka stared at me and I ignored him for the moment; I began to think about the Southern Air Temple and if I should have told them that my many great grandmother originally came from there.
I wondered what my family and old friends would think of me now: a freak, two-element bender, traveling with the avatar, traitor to the Fire Nation, a juvenile delinquent with a tattoo, or a teenage girl who is in marriageable age but doesn't have any suitors. Would I be a disgrace? Or would they be proud of me?
My stomach growled and I was brought back to reality. I sat up and looked at Sokka, who was still staring at me, saying, "Hey, guys, I'm hungry. Do we have anything to eat?"
Sokka said, "Yeah, I'm hungry, too. I'll find us something to eat." He then started to look in a bunch of bags for food and I heard his stomach growl. My stomach growled in reply to his and we both looked down at our stomachs in embarrassment.
"Hey, stomach, be quiet. I'm trying to find us some food," Sokka then went back to searching for food. He held up a bag and turned it upside down. Only crumbs of some type of meat came out and I looked away, knowing what used to be in the bag. "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered-seal jerky?"
"Oh, that was food?" Aang said innocently to Sokka, "Zia and I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry." I looked at the mountains that were in front of us when Sokka gave me a flabbergasted look.
"You WHAT?! No wonder the flames smelled so good." I stifled a giggle and risked a glance at Sokka. He had a wistful look on his face and this time I had to laugh. Actually, last night, Aang and I knew that it was food. We did it on purpose because it would be funny to tease Sokka. It didn't bother us because we were both vegetarian.
I zoned back into the present when Aang said something like "We are almost there!" In my opinion, Aang was a little too happy about going to his home. Katara and I shared a glance at each other because we both knew that it would break the poor kid's heart when he finds out he really is the last airbender.
"Aang, before we get to the temple, Zia and I want to talk to you about the airbenders." Katara said softly.
"What about them?" Aang asked.
"Well we just want you to be prepared about what you will see," I paused and climbed my way to Appa's head, where Katara and Aang were siting. "The Fire Nation is merciless and ruthless. They took my father away from my mother and me because he fell in love with an earthbender and had me. Both of my parents are dead because of them, just because they were in love. Imagine what they would have done to your people because airbenders were next in the Avatar cycle. I just want you to know that there might be no more airbenders, except for you."
Everyone stared at me when I finished talking and I just shrugged and looked away. I was over my parents' death but it still hurt to talk about it. Tears were starting to form for the second time today and I was in desperate need of a subject change.
Luckily, Katara started to talk to Aang, again, changing the subject back to the airbenders. I released a small sigh and listened to what Katara was saying. "The Fire Nation killed my mother, too and they could have done the same to your people."
"Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean that the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped into the mountains." Aang said, looking a little less hopeful.
"Look, I know it's hard to except—trust me. But you have to try. I just don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing. It hurts for them to be broken." I said understandingly.
"No, you guys just don't understand. They only way to get to the air temple is by flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation have any flying bison. Right, Appa?" Right on time, Appa groaned beneath us and I felt the vibration of it through my whole body. I shivered, that felt so weird.
Suddenly, Aang shouted hold on and I immediately grabbed onto Appa's fur. He pulled on the reins and we shot upwards. Wind was blowing my hair behind me and my eyes were drying out.
I kept my eyes open though, just to see what it looked like. I glanced at the rest of the group and a flash of silver on the mountain caught my eyes. They widened for a second and I tried to get a better look, but we were on top of the mountain already.
The next thing that caught my eye was the air temple. It was practically built into the mountaintop with eight towers spaced out randomly. There were large pathways that slithered like a snake up the mountaintop to the biggest tower.
"Wow it's beautiful," I said, staring in awe at the air temple. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katara and Sokka nod to what I had said.
Aang looked at it with loving eyes and patted Appa's head, "We're home, buddy. We're home." I looked over to Aang and wrapped my arms around his shoulders in a comforting way.
"So where and when do we park Appa and get to explore?" I asked the twelve year old boy. He pointed to a clear area at the bottom of the pathways and we flew down to the ground. Before the flying bison even reached the ground, I jumped to the ground and rolled into a landing. I have nothing against Appa; I just like the ground better than the air.
The others got off when Appa landed and I asked, "So while you guys go explore and do whatever, I have to go do something." Katara looked at me funny but Aang just shrugged.
"Sure, let's meet up here at noon, okay?" I nodded and Sokka continued, "If you get into trouble or need help just shoot some fire or earth into the sky."
"Okay, I got it. See you guys later!" I smile and started to jog down the mountain. About thirty minutes later, I stopped and walked. Kira had kept popping into my mind and tried to force her back down. But my memories of her were persistent and they eventually won the war in my mind.
"Zia, Zia, Zia, Ziaaaaaaaaa! Come on you walk so slooooooooowwwww. You're like a turtle-duck. Hurry up! I have to show you something!" My eight year old best friend yelled from her window in her house. I had just finished learning some new firebending forms and was sore from practicing them over and over.
I had just reached her front door when the waterbender opened it and I jumped in surprise. Kira was tall for her age and was almost five foot. She towered over my smaller form and was forced to crane my head to look up into her incredibly excited bright blue eyes. Like me, she was a hybrid of two different nations, Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. The only difference was she could only bend water and I could bend fire and earth.
Her face was dripping with water and so was the rest of her body, even her shoes were wet. I believed that she had been practicing her waterbending and discovered she could do something she had been taught to do and that was why her face was practically glowing with excitement.
"Yes Kira? What did you learn this time?" I said, exhausted. She always told me what she learned and so, along with my fire and earthbending technics, I learned waterbending technics too. She just grabbed my hand and pulled me all the way to her room. It was like transporting all the way to the North Pole when you walked into her room. Blue was everywhere you looked and there was animal pellets on the ground. It was even freezing cold in there because she kept icicles hanging from her ceiling and water all over her floor. Today there was a small bowl on her small bed that was filled with water.
"Well, remember how accident prone I am? Yeah well I accidently got a cut on my finger when I was eating and Mommy showed me how to heal." She said with an excited look in her eyes, like that was the most awesome thing ever. She was jumping up and down like a rabbit who took chi-enhancing tea.
"So? A lot of people know how to heal." I said a little confused at her excitement. I even knew a few things about first aid because of my firebending.
"Not like I do. Mommy showed me how to heal with waterbending!" She practically yelled in my ear, which she bended down to do. This time I was starting to get excited too. That was awesome!
"Show me!" I said and she smirked.
"I knew you would be excited. I just need someone to heal, though." She said a little disappointed at not being able to show me her new skill. I shrugged and grabbed my dad's dagger and pulled it out. She grabbed it and yelled, "What are you doing?"
"You need someone to heal and I will be that person. I'll just make a small cut on my arm and you can heal it. Please?! I really want to see it." I gave Kira my best puppy-dog eyes and she thought about it for a moment. After a few seconds she nodded reluctantly.
The older girl let go of my dagger and I held out my left arm, palm facing up. I took a deep breath and dug the sharp edge gently into my forearm. Blood started to come up and I winced, dragging the dagger two inches closer to my wrist. I lifted my dagger and dipped it into the basin of water, cleaning the dark red liquid of the shiny blade.
I put up the weapon and held up my left arm to Kira. She lifted her hands up in a waterbending move and the water flowed onto her hands. My best friend closed her eyes and concentrated for a little bit. The water turned a blue, the color of her eyes, and I gasped.
"It's beautiful." I said in awe. Kira opened her eyes and relaxed her shoulders a little. Moving her hands to my arm, she gently rested them on them on it and my forearm started to get a little tingly feeling. Less than a minute later, she removed her hands and I looked at my arm.
"Wow! It's gone! Well, almost gone except for the scar." I said, amazed and envying my best friend. I felt my arm and the scar. "Awesome. Totally awesome."
"I'm sorry about the scar. I couldn't stop it from doing that. I tried my hardest." The waterbender looked down in defeat and I felt bad for her.
So, I gave her a huge hug and said cheerfully, "I love it! It will remind me of my best friend and the best waterbender ever when I look at it." I stepped back a little and she looked down at me with tears in her eyes.
"Really? You're not mad at me?" She asked hopefully. I shook my head and prepared for what I knew was about to happen. She stepped forward wrapped her arms around mine, immobilizing me. Kira picked me up and spun me around before setting me back down. "You are the bestest friend ever!"
"Yeah, I know. Now let's not tell our parents about this, 'kay? I know that I would get an earful if my mom and dad found out. You're parents too. Anyways, tell me how you did that with the water. Maybe I could do something like that to my fire."
She nods and started to explain it to me.
I arrived at the spot on the mountain where I saw the flash of silver light and looked around. There was a small clearing and I walked toward it. Light caught my eyes and they roamed the area in the clearing for anything shiny.
Spotting something, I walked to it and gasped. It was a pair of Fire Nation swords. They were old, but not rusted or broken. I picked them up, perfectly balanced. Whoever owned them last kept them in perfect condition. I set one of the swords on the ground and examined the other. It had a black hilt with gold and red tiny threads woven into it. I touched the blade, expecting it to be sharp and cut me, but instead, it was dull. I would need to sharpen them.
I picked up the other sword and put them together. They fit perfectly. Then, all of a sudden, I got the feeling that someone was watching me. I whirled around, sword ready. Even if I didn't know how to use them, they still could protect me somehow. The person I faced was way worse than I anticipated. I would rather face an assassin who was sent to kill me before I saw this person. That's because the person I was facing was supposed to be dead.
"Dad? Is that really you?" I asked not believing in what I was seeing. I dropped the swords and they clanked onto the ground.
He nodded, "Hey Kiddo, long time, no see." If I didn't have so many questions in my mind, I think I would have fainted. But instead of doing the normal thing for once, I just rambled on about him being dead.
"Honey –wow— honey! Calm down. I am dead." He said as if that was going to make me feel better. "You are in the spirit world, Turdhead. Calm down already." When he used my childhood nickname I shut up really quickly.
"Okay. I'm in the spirit world. First, how in the world did I get here? Second, if you're here then where is Mom? And third—" I cut myself off and jumped onto him in a hug. I was expecting to go right through him but surprisingly, he was solid and we were able to hug.
Dad let go of me and I stepped back, looking at him for explanations. "Well, first things first. When you put the dual swords together, they brought you here. I guess they have a spiritual link to them and we both know that you are very spiritual. I'm here because I need to tell you and teach you something. Mom, on the other hand, wasn't allowed to come see you because she had no um, how did they put it, purpose for seeing you. But, she told me to tell you that she loves you very much and is very proud of you for sticking with the Avatar."
I took that in and said, "How long do we have until I leave or you leave?" Tears were definitely falling onto my face and Dad wipes them off.
"Shh, don't cry my little Turdhead. We have about an hour so we better get started. I am here to teach you how to use these swords. They may not be deadly now because of the dull blade, but believe me, they will be." Dad says, recapturing his army voice when he used to train me.
I giggle a little and salute, "Sir, yes, sir."
My father picks up the swords and examines them, giving me time to study him. He looks exactly like he did when he got captured. A little grey in his pitch black hair, hazel eyes that had a hard yet kind look to them, he was my height now though, and pale skin. The only things that I got from him were his eyes, firebending, and his height. Although, some people used to tell me we had the same nose and plush lips. Looking at him now, I could kind of see it.
"Are you done studying me? 'Cause I would rather teach than be glared at by my teenage knucklehead of a daughter." My dad said, teasing me. I nodded and laughed. "Dual swords are not like other swords. They are two parts of a whole. Individual, they are like every other sword, but together they are unlike any other."
I nod, "Okay so it's kind of like benders. People with just one element are strong but the Avatar, bender of all four main elements, is the most powerful human being."
Dad thinks about it for a second and then nods, "Never thought of it like that but yes. Nice concept. Maybe you're not a knucklehead after all."
I grin and smile widely, "So, what's next?"
Pulling the swords apart, he showed me a basic maneuver. In a simple move, my dad tossed the swords in the air and caught them by the flat part of the blade. "Think you can handle that? Your turn."
The swords were in arm's length and I grabbed them by the hilts. I looked back up at dad but he was already gone. I fell to my knees and whispered, "Bye, Dad. Love you." After a few seconds, I got up and stuck the swords into my belt to hold them. I then walked back to where Appa was. It took me about thirty minutes but when I got there, I saw Sokka running to a tented area, yelling something about lemurs and dinner.
Suddenly wind came out of nowhere and flew Sokka back into a wall. "Sokka!" I yelled and ran to him. "Are you alright? Where is Katara and Aang? What happened?"
Sokka pointed to the now nonexistent tent and shouted for me to hear him over the wind, "I'm fine. Aang is right there and here comes Katara."
Katara arrived and asked the same thing I did, "What happened?"
"He found out that the firebenders killed Monk Gyasto!" yelled Sokka.
I gave him a questioning look and he returned it with an 'I'll tell you later' one. "Oh no! He must have triggered his Avatar spirit! Zia come with me to calm him down." I agree and Katara and I try to walk over to Aang. I earthbended a pillar in front of us to stop the wind from pushing us back to Sokka and I pushed it forward until we were right besides Aang.
"Aang, I know your upset, and I know how hard it is to lose the ones you love. I went through that when I lost my mom." Katara said to the Avatar, who had a circle of wind around him while he was floating in the air. His arrows were glowing, along with his eyes.
"I went through that too when I lost both of my parents. I thought that I had lost my family. I pushed my friends away but soon realized that my friends were part of my family. Even with Monk Gyasto and the airbenders gone, you still have a family. Sokka, Katara and I are your friends. We are even more than that actually. We're your family. You guys are all I have and I don't want you to push us away like I did to my friends!" I yelled to him and he started to float down to the ground. The wind became less harsh and finally stopped.
"Zia, Katara and I are not going to let anything happen to you." Sokka said softly to Aang.
Katara grabbed the kid's hand when Aang's arrows and eyed had stopped glowing and then legs had crumpled and he landed on Katara. He said, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Katara said sympathetically to Aang.
"But if the Fire Nation found this temple; that means they found the others too. I really am the last airbender." Aang cried out and I just couldn't take it no more. I grabbed Sokka's hand pulled him into a hug with Katara and Aang.